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The Factions
The Holy Gottsreich A great Empire directly to the west of the Heart of Humanity that boasts a booming economy and an extremely well-equipped and well-trained military. The Holy Canonist Church Found exclusively in the Gottsreich, Canonism adheres to a strict set of principles all rooted in the belief that GOD (Gott) is the single most powerful being in the universe, and that the worship of him must be done through the practice of Canonism. It is taught that GOD bestowed five most holy tomes upon humanity through five different prophets who would guide humanity to to spiritual salvation and an eternal afterlife in the Seven Skies. A sixth tome was given by GOD to a woman named Alfreda, but she abused its power for personal gain, eternally damning her soul to the seven hells. For this reason, Magic is mostly seen as sinful and evil in the Gottsreich and the burning of witches is a common sight. The six tomes correlate to the six humours of a person’s physical being: Strength, Agility, Charisma, Perception, Intelligence and Attunement. The Bell Bringers Bell Bringers: By the bell! Thank the bells! Very common phrases like these come from the Bell bringers, a clan of holy magicians, priests and clerics. The bell bringers consists of followers of many different gods, excluding ignil. They congregate and have massive rituals together, usually using bells. They believe bells are holy symbols, as the book of oddegar states that “Odin rang a bell and Oddegar was born”. Because of this, they build massive, complex towers full of many sets of bells in cities they visit. It is not uncommon for a city to be completely worn down and in poverty, with the only nice building being a giant belltower. The Bell Bringers believe that Demons and Monsters are all blemishes on a perfect realm, and to slay them they forged The Bell born blade out of one of their holy bells from a long destroyed city. Bringer Octavian wielded this blade to purge the fallen city of Nazarth of the demon possession it was suffering, however it is believed that he was cursed and trapped inside his own blade. ' The Moonmongers '''Moonmongers: Devout followers of Luna, who believe that the moon is going to destroy Oddegar. They see Lunar eclipses as proof that the Moon is more powerful than the sun, and host massive bonfires when they occur. They are very few in number, but most are powerful wizards, who have harnessed the power of lunar magic. Nearly all of them stay in hiding during the day, and come out at night to do their various activities. All Moonmongers are given a Moon Rune at the time of joining, which they carry on them at all times. ' Deep Envoys '''Deep Envoys: Investigators and explorers of the Arcane Void, the goal of the deep envoys is to find intelligent life in Arcania, and harness the hidden power of the terrifying dimension. They all wear a ceremonial purple face mask, covered in carvings of tentacles and twisting forms, and a special black mantle with a scarf underneath. Most deep envoys have a strong belief that the arcane void is the true dimension, whilst oddegar is a corrupted and sinful mirror dimension. Many Deep Envoys have gone missing in the void, it is said that they finally found what they were looking for and decided to stay, rather than the far less heroic explanation. The Oldest and most hated enemy of the Deep Envoys are the Cleansers of the Void, as the Cleansers believe that all things arcane must be destroyed and the void should be sealed. There have been many wars fought between the groups, although they are all fairly small scale, and mostly wars of influence and propaganda. Envoy Iichonwald was the first Deep Envoy, as well as the first to disappear into the void. The highest branch of the deep envoys is the order of the black cross, which is a special unit which consists of only the most devoted followers, powerful fighters and wise mages. Their flag is two tentacles flanking a black cross Barristers of Chaos Barristers of Chaos: Believers in what they call true balance, a barristers duty is to keep oddegar in perpetual chaos, as that is its natural form. Barristers believe that in the face of good, there must be evil, and vice versa. They will take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that things are not black and white, often giving their lives in the pursuit of chaos. Believers in Luck, they often make most decisions by flipping coins, rolling dice and other such events. Through the constant use of luck, they have managed to become adept at it, and can control their own luck to a certain degree to get an outcome if necessary. Their most treasured artifact is the two tailed coin, a coin used by the Grand Barrister Bedoein, which is believed to represent the similarities of “Good” and “Evil” . Reeves of the PIllars Reeves of the Pillar: The Reeves of the pillar, or Pillars for short, is a religion based off of four tenets, or “pillars”. The first pillar is the pillar of stone, which is to say those who follow the pillars must be strong, tenacious and a support for others to lean on. The second pillar is that of flame, which shows that followers must spread their faith like fire, with a burning passion and zealotry. The third pillar is a pillar of dust, which shows that all will return to dust, and must treat others as they would themselves, as well as being humble. The final pillar is unfinished as to show that followers must continue to build their faith, and improve themselves whenever possible. The fourth pillar is only completed in death. Those who follow the pillars are known as reeves, and often wear a necklace depicting the pillars. They can be of any race or gender, and build churches of the pillar with the purpose of converting others. Cleansers of the Void Cleansers of the Void: Staunch protectors of oddegar, or oppressive witch hunters, the cleansers are a very contentious faction which has spread across all known lands of oddegar in their search for the arcane. Unlike the Envoys, they seek to destroy and seal all that is arcane in nature through any means necessary. There tireless search has caused grief for many innocent and oblivious citizens, which has made them many enemies. Nonetheless, they still keep looking and looking, burning any scraps of arcane they find in this realm. Some towns fear the void, and offer sanctuary to cleansers in return for protection, whilst others shun them as zealots who have caused more problems then they have solved. A cleanser is identified by the sigil they bear on their breast, a black pig head in a golden circle, which represents how they must sense the arcane in the same way a pig might sense a truffle, and dig it up from wherever it is rooted. The most famous cleanser is Godfrey, the blackened hand, who closed the largest arcane portal ever opened while fighting off the endless horde of monstrosities pouring from it by himself. ' The Watchers '''Watchers: A secret organization, hiding from the eyes of most. They believe that oddegar is some sort of experiment, and refuse to show themselves, hiding in the shadows. Whenever they must leave hiding, they wear different disguises and refuse to speak to anybody unless absolutely necessary. The only identification they wear is a purple eye on an armband, headband or cloak, this is to let other watchers know who they are. ' The Catalysts '''Catalysts: A massive faction of humans, easily identified by the set of horns they wear on their head, and typically stained black armour. The larger and bigger the horns are the higher ranking they have within the catalysts. Founded and led by the Grand Emperor Lucifarian, who is seemingly immortal. He only shows his face at massive rallies he leads, and gives speeches. The general philosophy of the catalysts is that humans are the heirs to oddegar, and its rightful rulers. The other races and creatures are imposing on the territory that rightfully belongs to humans, and should be driven off to create a united human homeland. Individual opinions on non humans vary, some may be friends with many non humans but still seek to make a human homeland, while others may see all other races as less than animals. They fly a black flag, depicting 3 white figures holding hands in a chain,this represents the unity of all humans souls in a dark world. The structure of the catalysts consists of conscripts at the bottom, which are those forced to fight for the catalysts as slaves of a sort. The catalysts take 10% of a towns men when they inhabit it, and make the conscripts. The next portion is the soldarr, a foot soldier enlisted of their own free will, or promoted from a conscript. Typically both soldarrs and conscripts are payed a mediocre wage, but more than enough to live off of. Above them are the Capptains, Grand Capptains, and High chancellorrs. Lucifarian has 3 high chancellors, the Black Oracle, the Great Chaplain, and the High Maww. The highest ranking is Lucifarian, as he is the most adept in combat and has the most charisma. Lucifarian formed the catalysts himself, after his family was killed by quillven raiders. Legends say he went on a quest and discovered the Helios bell, which granted him 4 wishes. No one knows what he wished for, other than immortality, or if he has any wishes left.. The Way of Light Way of Light: A massive cult which has consumed many parts of oddegar, which believes that magic has corrupted oddegar and made it impure. They refuse to use magic, and go so far as to persecute those who do. They might make up a small percentage of a town, in which case they mostly mind their own business, but if they gain enough power and followers they will put the town under a tight grasp, squeezing out all the suspected witches and warlocks and burning them on large wooden spikes. Wearing all white, followers wear veils and blindfolds to shield themselves from the sin of the world around them.They burn special grey candles made of monster essence which dull magic, and cast prayers to the gods to protect them from the cursed magic. They refuse to see holy magic as magic, rather calling it “divinations” and many followers use it extensively. The most fearsome of this group are the lightbearers, who wear massive hats covered in monster wax candles and wield null rods to assist them in their hunt for magic users. They bear a white flag with a yellow candle on it. The Duskmen Duskmen: A large faction of many races, located in lemaria. They are characterized by a green beret with a insignia on the front. Their insignia is a half moon with a sun in the middle, usually displayed on a gold coin. They provide protection for towns that are under their control, in turn the towns feed the army when they pass through, and many more villagers get recruited to the duskmen. Sons of Sol Sons of Sol:A Sect of elite priests of Sol, who spend every lit hour of the day training for war, and every dark second sleeping. They wear golden robes, and gold inlead armour over top, with tabards with a sun in the middle. They simply wish to serve Sol, and have a massive glass lens which they brand themselves with under the sun as to show their devotion. They refuse water and food until Sol grants them a “Vision” Describing something in the future, they then interpret these and decide their next plan of action. They go on long pilgrimages around the world, simply seeking Sol’s truth. The Great Truth The Great Truth is the concept that we can be freed from our shackles of mortality by embracing pain and being reborn through it. Seekers of the great truth reject the gods and instead follow the path of pain, flogging themselves with barbed whips, burning themselves with acid, or getting themselves into fights. You could consider many of those who follow the great truth to be extreme masochists, deriving a holy purpose through their pain. Often they are far more resilient than others of their race, and can be starved, beaten and bled without so much as losing consciousness. A famous story speaks of Greywalt the Conqueror being captured, flogged and bled until they believed he was dead. He was found by his men and put on a funeral pyre, however once it was burning they saw his figure stand up and start laughing, as if he was enjoying himself. United Mankind United Mankind: A humanitarian organisation who helps destroyed towns out of poverty and assists citizens with medicinal aid. Unfortunately, through lack of support they have run out of funds and are corrupt, charging exorbitant prices for their services after the fact and threatening with mercenary groups. They hire clerics from around oddegar to assist them, saving random adventurers and charging them for their services. Wayward Rangers Wayward Rangers: The wayward rangers is split into two factions: Old Rangers and Rangers. Rangers are an elite faction of warriors, whose goal is keep the world safe from monsters, demons and undead. They do this by tracking and hunting any threats they come across and eliminating them with specialized equipment. In order to preserve the honor of their order, they follow a set of codes which includes that they must hunt any monster they cross paths with, no matter how difficult it is. This has led to many novice rangers meeting their demise to much stronger enemies than them. It is rare to see a ranger in a group, as custom is that they hunt alone. A ranger will find an apprentice, train them in the art of monster hunting, and once they feel they are ready will give up their ranger badge (Which depicts a sword within a skull) and give up being a ranger themselves, often becoming what is known as an Old ranger. The difference between and old ranger and a ranger comes in philosophy, as after many years of hunting a ranger will realize that the most dangerous monster is mankind itself. Once they give up their badge, they no longer must uphold the rangers law and may hunt anything they wish. Because of this, the old rangers are hunters of the most dangerous prey, defending what they love from the corruption and greed of mankind. Cult of Dragons Cult of Dragons:An ancient cult, formed before the great dragon war, which believes that dragons are restoring balance that the gods disrupted, they seek to align with the dragons. WE learned magic from the dragons, so they refer to all types except for holy magic to be “The Dragons Gift” and see it as a sacred bond tying Dragons and mankind together. During the dragon war, their numbers were flourishing enough that they formed an army, and were supplied with dragonscale armour and iconic katanas with dragon heads embossed into them. They fought on the side of the dragons, and were defeated with them, their forces scattered and they were cast into the shadows. To prevent the spread of the cult, an order was passed which banned all katanas, and if one was found it was to be shattered and reforged. After the war, they collected the bones and skulls of dragons and adorned them on themselves as a sign of devotion, that they were with the dragons even in death. Now, they seek to bring the dragons back into the fold, and scorn the gods and those who support them. For the most part, enarly every faction hates the dragon cultists, with the only neutral factions known being the scourgeborne, black watch and the catalysts. The Scourgeborn The Scourgeborne: A legion of soldiers doused with Plauge’s breath, turned into diseased creatures shunned from humanity. They have gone mad, turning to cannibalism and barbaric ways. They have learnt the ways of Plauge, and can use the same spell which made them monsters to recruit new members. Their signature is the green steel they wear, some of the only of its kind, which was created from the fallen scales of Plauge. ' The Bloc Gangers '''The Bloc Gangers: A group of hooded vigilantes who wander between towns, burning impure facilities such as saloons and brothels, and hanging those deemed evil in the public eye. Evil is defined by most impure acts, including stealing and even lying, but murder is apparently ok as long as you kill someone deserving. They have many groups throughout oddegar, but all wear the same hoods, with dark green paint around the eyes and mouth holes, and branches sticking out of the sides with various bells and tassels.They wear a medallion with a squinting eye and three teeth hanging off of it, representative of the three founders of the organization. If order to become a official member, you must take teeth from three different “Evil beings”, which will be used in the making of your medallion. ' The Black Watch 'Black Watch: A now defunct legion which used to span all of oddegar. They were created for the purpose of killing the great dragons, and lived on many years afterwards trying to purge dragons from oddegar. They wore signature Black Steel armour, with large weapons and bolts tipped with dragonsblood. Once they helped fight off the great dragons, they slowly lost support from around oddegar, eventually many bands broke off of the black watch and turned to muraudiding, giving them a bad name. Eventually, the Dragons cult grew strong enough and assaulted the Scorched Watchtower, the HQ of the black watch, killing what was left, while taking heavy casualties. Now, most black watch you will find are marauders, madmen and murderers, with only a handful left who still seek the original goal of slaying the dragons. ' Order of the Six Wrists '''Order of the six wrists: A powerful group of ignil worshippers which have infiltrated various places of power throughout oddegar, their actual power is unclear. Known for horrific human sacrifices, kidnappings and subterfuge, they are a contentious topic amongst those in the know. Their most famous incident is when they burnt down a grand cathedral along with everyone in it as an offering. They possess a potent form of necromancy, focused around blood. They slit their own wrists to improve their power, and ensure that if defeated they will bleed out, sacrificing themselves for ignil. Valeria Valeria: Composed of remnants of the Iron Empire, this faction is highly imperialistic, and values high amounts of nationalism in its citizens. They build statues of their heros wherever they go, and treat their own citizens well, but commit many war crimes and atrocities in order to claim new lands and intimidate other factions. Their leader is known as Emperor Alistair the Godmaker, he has a large metal contraption on his back which releases a cloud of white steam wherever he goes. Their flag consists of a tiger wearing a feathered hat. Sons of Vord Sons of Vord: A primal faction of united tribes, they ride in a large horde of horsemen, pillaging towns and eventually settling in large cities. They believe they don’t need to follow the laws of man, as they dont have a home and only eat meat, rather they follow the laws of nature: The strong rule the weak. They are feared and scorned by nearly everyone but their own, as they are famous for absolute savagery and no mercy. Their leader is the Warvord Garl the Skull Born. This is actually the rebirth of a previous faction, the Vordvians, who fractured into many primal tribes due to infighting, 'Kreigstrom Khanate: ' Unknown